Diaphragm for railway cars



L. A. HANSEN DIAPHRAGM FOR RAILWAY CARS Fgb. 25, 1941.

Filed Aug. 2, 1940 Larry msn,

ATTORNEYS. y

Patented Feb. V?5, 1941 DIAPHRAGM FOB RAILWAY CARS Larry A. Hansen, Philadelphia, Pa., asslgnor to 3 The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 2, 1940, Serial'No. 349,442

4 claims.

This invention has reference to improvements in railway car end diaphragms and, more particularly, to the species including an-inner iace plate with spacially related and hinged anking 5 or outer face plates, with associated means nor-v mally iniiuencing such diaphragms on adjoining car ends into mutual engagement.

Diaphragm structures `of the above specified type while measurably successful do not main--v l@ tain a definite tension on the outer diaphragm intervening the adjoining car end side walls, more especially when such diaphragrns are io cated for streamlining the ears; and, the primary object oi this invention is the provision 15 oi a novel means for outwardly influencing the end face plate wing portions so as'to maintain the outer diaphragm members under tension at all times, irrespective ci variations in the running of connected cars when rounding or trav- 2@ ersing railroad curves in either direction.

Another object is to provide means oi thel views; while the concluding claims more particularly denne the features of novelty over the prior art.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is anlend elevation of a railway car body 40 including the improvements ofl this invention;

and, v

Fig. 2 is a crosssection, taken substantially as indicated by the arrows II-II'in Fig. 1.

In' describing the form of this invention exemplied on the drawing herewith, specific terms will be employed for vthe sake of clarity, but it is.

to be understood the seppe of said invention isinot thereby limited; each such term being intended to embrace all equivalents which perform the same function for an analogous purpose.

Referring to the drawing, a railway car body end is 'comprehensively designated by the numeral 3, the same including conventional vestibule Y and corner posts 4, 5, respectively; while 6 is the bumper sill, and 1,v 8 the inner and outer dlaphragms, with an associatedface vplate 9, and wing plates IID plvoted to said face plate by hinges i l in accordance with known practice. The outer diaphragm t is connected along one vertical edge by suitable means it to the car corner post 5 5 and complemental means i3 to the outer edge portion of the registering wing plate il); said means preferably being of the species forming the subject matter of a companion application Serial No,`349,41l3, and filed concurrently yherem with.

In 'order that the respective wing plates it shall be normally influenced outwardly so as to exert a constant tension on the outer diaphragm li, use is preferably made of upper and lower nat# w springy and outwardly-tapering leaf members it,

having their inner or larger and approximately rectangular ends it permanently yxed by securing means it, to the outer vertical anges l'l oil the respective vestibule posts it. l Each of the narrower ends of the members it is retroverted to provide a hinge loop iii for passage of a pivot pin ld, whereby said loop is connected between the apertured ears it o i a shoe lil! afforded slidable movement in the stiiiening structure it of the respective wing plates lil. Incidentally, it is to be 'noted that in Fig. 2 the respective diaphragxns l, t and associated iace plates d, i@ are shown in the normal or funcoupled position, who@ the reference ai designates the extent or 30 inward collapse towards the car body end 3 when adjoining car ends are coupled together.

From the foregoing the merits and advantages inherlng to this invention will be clearly apparent to those conversant with car vestibule and 35 diaphragm constructions, but it is herein desired to emphasize the fact that by using opposed leaf members i4 proximate the upper and lower portions oi the face plate 9 and hinged wings l0, that both of said'parts of one car are firmly 40 braced in mutual registration with the corresponding parts of a coupled car.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In diaphragm connections for the adjoining ends of mobile cars including spaced inner and outer exible diaphragm members; the combination of aface plate, parallel to.' and longitudinally spaced relative to the-adjacent car ,end wall, andhaving flanking pivotal-wings providing longitudinally spaced extensions of the 5 peripheral contour of thecar; and laterally-dion the outer diaphragm members with concurrent outward influencing of the face plate.

2. In diaphragm connections for the adjoining ends of` railway cars including spaced inner and outer ilexible sheet diaphragms; the combination Vof a face plate sustained by the vestibule posts parallel to and longitudinally in advance of the c'ar end wall, anking Wings vertically-hinged to said face plate; means connecting the outer exi-ble diaphragms between the car end corner posts and the outer vertical edges of the face plate wings; and opposed laterally-directed -springy leaf-elements having their inner ends rigidly secured to the vestibule posts with their leaf-element consists ot an outwardly-tapering i member ,with the wider end square, andthe smaller end retroverted to dene a pivot-loop.

4. The combination of claim 2, wherein the outer end of each leaf-member is looped and hingedly connected to a laterally slidable shoe, l

and said shoe is aiorded slidable movement in the stiilening structure of the associated face plate wing.

LARRY A. HANSEN. 

